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jep
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Discussion of Movies
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Mar 31 00:12 UTC 2002 |
This item is for discussion of movies.
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| 304 responses total. |
jep
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response 1 of 304:
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Mar 31 00:18 UTC 2002 |
The boys and I went to see "Ice Age" last night. The boys are 10 and
5. They both thought it was a very funny movie, and so did I. No
movie can be bad if it has a 5 year old pealing with laughter, in my
book.
"Ice Age" is an animated film about an incoming ice age, and three
prehistoric animals (wolly mammoth, sloth and sabre-tooth tiger) who
come across a Neanderthal boy (I thought of him as a Neanderthal,
anyway) and their adventures as they attempt to return him to his
tribe. There's a squirrel as a side-plot through the whole movie, and
his hilarious adventures dealing with a nut.
It's kind of nice to have a prehistoric movie that's not about
dinosaurs, since there have been 1000 of them in the last decade or so.
The movie is rated PG as there is a little bit of violence, but I
didn't notice anything I minded having my 5 year old see. There was no
toilet humor, and not much meanness. It was a nice movie. It was not
very realistic, but it was fun, and that was enough for all of us.
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brighn
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response 2 of 304:
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Mar 31 05:50 UTC 2002 |
Went to see "The Time Machine," the new one. It was at the new Birmingham
Palladium, which was mucho keeno cool, very modern while being very retro.
Definitely an experience if you're ever in that neighborhood (it's north of
Maple, on Old Woodward, a few blocks north of the Birmingham Theater, which
is also nice but not as wowser!).
ANYwho, the movie itself was ok. The execution was mediocre, and the age of
Wells' original plot is really starting to show (expecially the Lamarckian
aspect: I haven't read the book, but Lamarck has been in the three movie
versions I've seen, so I assume it's in the book). The speciall FX were very
cool, and worth seeing on a big screen, but even those were lacking in a few
spots. Orlando Jones' appearance was silly from a technical standpoint
(hackers, prepare to cringe), but fun from an entertainment standpoint. Jeremy
Irons, as always plays an excellently creepy bad guy (Uber-Molock, in this
case). I felt Guy pearce was miscast in the main role, though, but maybe
that's because I'm getting sick of seeing him (I saw Count of Monte Cristo
recently, and Ravenous not too long ago).
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jazz
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response 3 of 304:
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Mar 31 07:56 UTC 2002 |
I had some real problems with the movie version of "The Time Machine",
as it, much like "Planet of the Apes", was remade with prettier special
effects but no sense whatsoever of the original message. Instead of a
decadent and hopelessly dependent Eloi being fed, cared for, and preyed upon
by a sinister but practical group of Morlocks, we now have a group of noble
savages living in a paradise of their *own* making, being preyed upon by
genetically engineered opportunists. It completely misses the point.
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jp2
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response 4 of 304:
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Mar 31 08:06 UTC 2002 |
No it does not. It expands upon the point in a way not in direct conflict
with the original work. Want to see just how brilliant it is? agora is the
earth, you are all Eloi, and I am a Morlock. It's the way it must be.
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jazz
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response 5 of 304:
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Mar 31 08:14 UTC 2002 |
Except, odds are this "Eloi" is considerably bigger and likes meat
more than that "Morlock". Though, given the behaviour of the Morlocks, I
won't argue the point further.
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other
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response 6 of 304:
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Mar 31 15:54 UTC 2002 |
That is the most bizarrely ironic analogy I think I have ever seen.
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brighn
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response 7 of 304:
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Mar 31 22:21 UTC 2002 |
#3> That's a good point. Probably the best version of the *dynamic* intended
in the distant future of The Time Machine was in a Star Trek episode called
"The Apple." Interestingly, the portal in "The Time Machine" looked like it
was stolen from Vaal in "The Apple."
("The Apple": The crew of the Enterprise find a planet where there is no
death, no violence, and no sex... everyone lives in peace and tranquility,
so long as they continue to appease Vaal, a computer which has a snakehead
as a portal. Vaal captures the Enterprise in a tractor beam, and must be
destroyed if the Enterprise is to ever escape. Of course, destroying Vaal
means forcing the natives to learn how to reproduce and fend for themselves.)
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jazz
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response 8 of 304:
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Mar 31 23:00 UTC 2002 |
The message I took away from it was about the exploitation of
Industrial labour; eventually those who put food on your table may feed upon
you. But YMMV.
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vidar
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response 9 of 304:
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Mar 31 23:01 UTC 2002 |
resp #1: No toilet humor? I think you must have been asleep during the
first 15 minutes of the movie.
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richard
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response 10 of 304:
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Apr 5 09:05 UTC 2002 |
GHOST WORLD-- watched this on video tonight. Its really good, one of the
best movies of last year. Movie is about a girl who graduates high
school and has no interest in anything and is completely cynical about
everything. She sees herself as stuck in a "ghost world" where everything
and everyone seems shallow and phony. This sets up a situation where she
and her friend answer a personals ad as a joke and she meets a loner named
Seymour (played by Steve Buscemi) who collects old blues records. At
first he's a joke to her and she strings him along, but eventually she
starts to like him. She hates the present and here's a guy who lives in
the past. Gradually she becomes alienated from everyone in her world BUT
him, someone who feels just as lonely and out of place as she does. The
girl by the way is played wonderfully by Thora Birch, who played Kevin
Spacey's daughter in American Beauty (that character very similar to this
one actually) Good movie. Wish I'd watched it before now, I completely
missed it in the theaters. (**** stars)
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michaela
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response 11 of 304:
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Apr 5 18:32 UTC 2002 |
"Ghost World" was excellent. I loved Thora Birch's character, Enid.
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mcnally
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response 12 of 304:
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Apr 5 18:47 UTC 2002 |
I would also recommend "Ghost World". Based on familiarity with
writer Daniel Clowes' work in comics (but not with the comics version
of "Ghost World" specifically) I was expecting something offputtingly
cynical, bleak, and mean-spirited. Instead it's turned out surprisingly
warm and human -- I would guess Clowes' work must have been somewhat
moderated by the filmmaker.
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oval
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response 13 of 304:
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Apr 5 21:45 UTC 2002 |
i really liked ghost world too. i want the soundtrack as well.
i rented k-pax last night. it was feely-good okay. i'll watch just about
anything with kevin spacey in it.
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mcnally
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response 14 of 304:
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Apr 5 23:21 UTC 2002 |
Yeah, I've been tempted to find the soundtrack if only to get a copy of
"Jaan Pechechaan Ho", the frenzied Indian dance number featured in the
movie clip Enid likes to watch. I imagine I'd enjoy hearing full versions
of some of the obscure blue tunes featured, too..
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jazz
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response 15 of 304:
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Apr 6 01:21 UTC 2002 |
I enjoyed Clowes' _Ghost World_ comic, though I've not read anything
else by him. It was cynical, and somewhat bleak. I don't know about
mean-spirited, though it did deal with people being mean-spirited to one
another.
I was very surprised to see several things unfold in the movie that
I'd seen or experienced firsthand, but had never seen in a story before, such
as Enid's simultaneous rebellion from society's judgements of her, and her
enthrallment with society's judgements of Seymour, until another woman appears
to make her question her peception of those judgements.
Definitely a great piece of "found art".
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remmers
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response 16 of 304:
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Apr 6 02:42 UTC 2002 |
I'll chime in with my own strong recommendation for "Ghost World",
both the comic book and the movie.
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michaela
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response 17 of 304:
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Apr 6 07:10 UTC 2002 |
Thanks, mcnally. I want a copy of that song, and now I know the title. :)
It's played in full at the end of the movie, over the credits, and I kept
rewinding it so I could dance.
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mary
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response 18 of 304:
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Apr 6 11:57 UTC 2002 |
In the theatrical release (K-Pax) a significant scene is left
until the very end, coming after the credits. When I saw the
movie only a handful of people where left to see it. Did they
change that with the DVD or VHS release?
I hope not.
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jmsaul
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response 19 of 304:
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Apr 6 13:29 UTC 2002 |
Wow. My wife and I always stay through movies just in case, but that *never*
happens any more...
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jazz
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response 20 of 304:
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Apr 6 14:18 UTC 2002 |
#(*@#(*@#, I missed that scene. What happens?
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mcnally
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response 21 of 304:
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Apr 6 16:22 UTC 2002 |
re #17: fyi, the All Music Guide at http://www.allmusic.com is
invaluable for looking up stuff like that -- definitely one of the best music
sites on the web. You can find out everything that's on the soundtrack by
doing a search on "Ghost World" by album title..
And yeah, it's a great song and works excellently in the movie.. The DVD
even has the film excerpt as one of the DVD extras..
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michaela
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response 22 of 304:
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Apr 6 18:45 UTC 2002 |
*mutters to self* Must get DVD player...
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oval
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response 23 of 304:
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Apr 6 22:36 UTC 2002 |
yea, it's the same on the dvd - plus they have an 'alternate ending'.
(the k-pax ending)
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jep
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response 24 of 304:
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Apr 7 04:28 UTC 2002 |
My son and I saw "The Rookie" tonight. It's a baseball movie about an
older guy (36) who gets a shot at making it to the big leagues as a
pitcher, based on a true story. It was a pretty good movie; it held
our attention.
Like almost all baseball movies, it doesn't help to know anything about
baseball when watching it. I was left wondering why the left-handed
pitcher was brought in to face one batter, who was right-handed. (If a
left-handed pitcher is brought in to pitch to a single batter, it's
always one who bats left-handed.)
Also, why in the world are they releasing a baseball movie at the start
of baseball season? Surely anyone would at least consider going to the
game instead of the movie, right? We didn't because it's warm in the
theater; maybe everyone else did that, too.
Anyway, this movie was worth watching. I thought "Ice Age" was better,
though.
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